Senators debated SB #47 and SB #49 which proposed establishing and funding a committee to provide vouchers for community needs
By CAROLINE VAN ZANT — campus@theaggie.org
Internal Vice President Juliana Martinez Hernandez called the meeting to order at 6:18 p.m. Following roll call, she recited the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.
Four members of various ASUCD commissions were randomly selected for service on the Elections Committee.
Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration Kelly Ratliff presented an overview of UC Davis’ budget and income. Her presentation was followed by a debate about whether students should have more say in the campus budget.
“From buildings, to infrastructure, whatever you want to say […] every single dollar affects us,” Senator Sergio Bocardo-Aguilar said.
Next, the STEM Committee provided its quarterly report, focusing on transparency in grade curving.
“We are working on a resolution to address the toxic environment created by curving,” Committee Co-Chair Aaron Wright said.
Omar Flores was confirmed as the chairperson of the DREAM Committee. Flores is a fourth-year political science major with experience working with on-campus organizations such as La Familia. Alice Deloise Atiegar, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, was confirmed as a member of the DREAM Committee.
Following a short break, the Entertainment Council presented its quarterly report, focusing on adapting to COVID-19 with outdoor events and its goals regarding advertising and investment in new equipment.
Each official gave an overview of the work they did over the past week during elected officer and ex-officio reports.
During Public Announcements, Jackson Gould, the CALPIRG pledge captain, spoke about the organization’s campaign to end plastic use and its goal to get 1,000 signatures on its petition by the end of the week. International Student Representative Keven Zhou announced the Global Learning Conference on April 2.
Next, the table moved into Public Discussion. ASUCD President Ryan Manriquez brought up the news that Yolo Country plans to end its mask mandate on Feb. 15. While no legislation was passed, senators were in agreement that UC Davis must keep its mandate in place until positivity rates decrease. Senator Celeste Palmer argued for a more stringent mask mandate.
“If you want to have a truly effective mask mandate you need to start insisting on either surgical masks or N95s,” Palmer said.
SR #23, SB #45 and SB #48 were introduced through regular parliamentary procedure. SR #23 is a resolution in support of the movement to make the UC Davis mascot a cow, SB #45 is a proposal to create an exploratory committee for an ASUCD gala and SB #48 would allocate around $2000 for marketing materials in support of the movement for a cow mascot. SB #47, SB #49 and SB #51 were considered as emergency legislation. SB #47 and its partner bill SB #49 would set up and fund an exploratory committee to provide vouchers based on needs that arise within the UC Davis community, while SB #51 would raise the pay of ASUCD commission chairs. SB #46 was also considered. SB #46, SB #47 and SB #49 all passed unanimously.
There was considerable debate surround SB #47 and SB #49. Bocardo-Aguilar took issue with the bills because of the potential for overlap with services already provided by units like the ASUCD Pantry, though Senator Rashita Chaudan noted that food insecurity was only one need the vouchers could address.
Meeting minutes from Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 were approved.
The meeting ran almost over an hour and a half overtime. The meeting was adjourned by Martinez Hernandez at 11:49 p.m.
Written by: Caroline Van Zant — campus@theaggie.org
